Exmoor Tourist Information

This website features extensive tourist information for Exmoor visitors and holiday makers, with in-depth content and pictures. The site also contains
hundreds of weblinks (indicated by )
to tourist-related businesses & organisations in the Exmoor National Park.

Click an area belowfor local tourist information or use the menu left for specific interest.(Mobile users: use town village links on lower left menu if map fails in your browser)

Now in its 14th year, the Festival is renowned for bringing to the area classical music concerts at the highest level possible.
World-famous artists taking part in the thirty-one concerts this autumn include Viktoria Mullova, Trevor Pinnock and Kate Royal along with many other well-known and up-and-coming soloists and ensembles.
For more details please contact the Box Office: 01643 831006, email: 2mf@btinternet.comwebsite: www.thetwomoorsfestival.com

The Exmoor National Park

What is Exmoor ?

The Exmoor National Park is a large beautiful and peaceful area of wild countryside in the South West of
England.
The Park was designated in 1954 and covers 267 square miles (692sq.km.). Two thirds of the
park is in the County of Somerset and one third is in Devon. The landscape is described as 'semi-natural' as it
has been influenced by human activity over thousands of years.
At the end of the Ice Age (10-12,000 years ago) the climate improved and vegetation began to grow. It is believed
that 8,000 years ago the majority of Exmoor was continuous oak woodland. As man began to settle, the Exmoor landscape
changed as agricultural 'technology' and ways of life evolved. The result of this human interaction is the
wonderful diversity and variety that is Exmoor today.

Exmoor: Recreation

Outdoor Activities and Wildlife in Plenty

Exmoor has spectacular panoramic views
and places for everyone to sit and enjoy them. There is an abundance of wildlife - some of which is unique
to the area. The famous Exmoor ponies are easily seen grazing on the commons.
There are large numbers
of wild red deer, which are more secretive, but can be seen with patience. In the late autumn during the
rut, the stags can be heard roaring in the wooded valleys - a very eerie and distinctive noise.

There are many rivers and deep wooded coombes on Exmoor. There are hundreds of miles of footpaths and bridleways.
Canoeing on the rivers Exe and the Barle is very popular. Exmoor is a mecca for mountain bikers
and walkers. Horse riding and pony trekking are also very popular.
Hunting with hounds
has been a traditional recreation on Exmoor for centuries. There are foxhound packs, staghound packs and beagle
packs. Game shooting is a big business on Exmoor, attracting shooters from across the world.
Pheasants and partridge are raised by the thousand every year, and released into the wild. Visiting drivers should
take care as they often wander all over the roads in places, apparently oblivious to the danger!

There are a large number of holiday cottages, B&Bs and some delightful old hotels. The whole
Exmoor region relies heavily on tourism for its income, so visitors and holiday makers are well catered for and
respected.

Exmoor: Appearance

What does Exmoor look like today ?

High rolling moorland. Approximately 27% of the Exmoor National Park is actually 'moorland'. The
rest is mainly farmland. Both the heather and grass moors are internationally important for their wildlife and
scenic beauty. High ground of this nature is unusual in southern England.
The Exmoor 'plateau' is an area of unglaciated upland (250-500m) approximately 200 million years old - some 180 million
years older than the Alps in Europe. It is thought to rank among the oldest features on the Earths surface.

A rugged coast. Exmoor's northern boundary (34 miles/54km) is the Bristol Channel and stretches
from Combe Martin to Minehead. The cliffs along this coastline mainly face North or NE and are protected from the
prevailing South Westerly winds. They are the highest cliffs in England (Great Hangman is the highest sheer cliff
at 800ft/244m). The sheltered aspect has allowed the development of coastal woodland which is predominantly oak.
The woods between The Foreland and Porlock represent the longest stretch of coastal woodland in England and Wales and
run right down to the shore in many places. The rare Exmoor 'hogs-back' cliffs are dramatic and awe-inspiring. The
Exmoor coast is one of the most unspoilt and best protected stretches of coastline in England and Wales.

Ancient woodlands. Much of Exmoor's high ground features steep, woodland covered valleys (called
combes). Much of the woodland is ancient sessile oak. Birch, beech, ash, rowan, unique varieties of
whitebeam and various 'thorns' also feature.

Rivers and streams. The very nature of the Exmoor area has determined that the only farming
possible on the high ground is sheep or cattle grazing. So there is very little to pollute Exmoors watercourses.
The relatively fast flowing brooks and streams support a wide variety of plants and animals, including otters,
kingfishers, goosanders, salmon and trout (see fishing).

The ‘Cultural’ Landscape. Dotted across this wild, 'natural' place are the farmsteads, villages
and hamlets where the people who have shaped Exmoor have lived and worked for generations.

Exmoor: Special Features

Geology

Exmoor is made up of sedimentary rocks (grits, siltstones, sandstones, mudstones) which show a slaty cleavage; the rock
has been altered under pressure so that it is split into flat plates. They are mainly of Devonian Age. They
are special because they show an uninterrupted sequence through the Devonian into the succeeding Carboniferous period
(385-355 million years ago). Devon and Exmoor was the first area where rocks of this age were studied - hence the
name.

Unusually smooth and convexly rounded hillsides are a special Exmoor feature. The Hogs-back cliffs
owe much of their shape to weathering and erosion during the Ice Age.
Changes in sea-level are responsible for other landform features such as the Valley of Rocks (Lynton), the coastal
waterfalls, the Lyn Delta, the cobble or shingle ridge and submarine forest at Porlock (see top picture). There
are unusual knolls within inland valleys such as Cow Castle (beside the river Barle below Simonsbath), Flexbarrow and
Alse Barrow which appear to be fragments of river terraces.

Rare Habitats

Exmoor contains 5 broad types of habitats which are recognised as being of international importance; blanket bog, upland
heath, western heath, western oakwoods and parkland. The UK has 10-15% of the worlds blanket bog and wet moorland
and a large proportion of its upland and western heaths. Exmoor has a significant proportion of the UK and world
total of western oakwoods.

Rare Species

The Exmoor Pony is considered to be a race of wild horse rather than a separate species. It is classified as an
endangered breed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. The
Exmoor Pony Society Homepage
Exmoor is thought to have two endemic species of whitebeam tree (Sorbus subcuneata and Sorbus Taxon D). (These are
native to Exmoor and found nowhere else).
Lichen Opegrapha fumosa is also thought to be endemic to Exmoor.
Internationally endangered species found on Exmoor include; many species of spiders and insects, including high
brown fritillary and heath fritillary butterflies; 10 species of bat; otter; water vole; brown hare; dormouse; goshawk;
merlin; peregrine; red grouse; grey partridge; quail; curlew; guillemot; barn owl; redshank; Dartford warbler;
razorbill; nightjar; Cetti's warbler; sedge warbler; lapwing. Plants include the whitebeams,
Babington's leek, fragrant evening primrose and six species of fungi.

Hedgebanks

These are unusual features both nationally and internationally and are confined to the West Country (Somerset, Devon
and Cornwall). They feature widely on Exmoor as field and common boundaries. They consist of a bank of
earth, typically 1-2metres high with a hedge growing on top. Sometimes the sides of the bank have 'ditching' -
faced with stone which varies in character across the Moor. In the early 19th century the Acland family
(landowners with a huge estate on the Moor) experimented with various forms of hedge to top the banks and found that
beech was the most successful. Beech grew higher on Exmoor than elsewhere, was of low logging value so the
locals left it alone (!) and when thinned and layed, formed a good wind and stock proof barrier.
The Knights (see Simonsbath) used beech extensively in the mid 19th century during
their huge moorland reclamation project.

Exmoor: Governance

Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA)

The Exmoor National Park is the place. The Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) is the organisation that is charged by central government to
administer the policies and legislation the refers to National Parks in the UK.

Who are the Authority?

The ENPA consists of a committee of members from various sources;

5 Somerset County Council elected members
2 Devon County Council elected members
5 West Somerset District Council elected members
2 North Devon District Council elected members
5 Parish Council elected members
7 Secretary of State for the Environment Appointees
---
26 Members Total

ENPA is a 'free-standing' body within the local government structure, but independent of County and District
councils. The Authority meets on a regular basis to decide policy, resource allocation and planning issues.

How is the ENPA Funded?

The majority of the money comes from central government through an annual bid to the DETR (Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions). The remainder comes from the constituent local authorities who also get
support from central government to meet these costs. The ENPA also generates additional income from it's own
activities and attracts considerable sums from external sources. Working in partnership with others, the ENPA is
successful in attracting money from Europe, the National Lottery and Millennium funds and from Trusts and the private
sector. An approximate breakdown of income sources would be;